Back in the Soldier's Arms Read Online Free PDF

of that.”
    Vicki wiped tears from her own eyes as she reached for Penny again.
    “Then that’s exactly what you need to tell him, Penny.” “I can’t.” She choked out her refusal.
    “Yes, you can,” Vicki insisted. “You owe it to yourself, to the years you’ve put into this relationship and this marriage, to find out whether you can forgive him.”
    Penny shook her head. “Even if I can forgive, how do I ever forget? Cheating is a deal breaker for me, Vicki, it always has been.”
    Her mother-in-law met her gaze. “It’s easy to say it’s a deal breaker, Penny, before you’re actually faced with it happening to you, but this is real. It’s happened now, and I’d hate for you to look back in years to come and wish you’d given him a chance to prove himself.”
    She was his mother. Penny knew that she’d want them to work through this, but still. Was she right? Did she need to pull her head out of the sand it was buried in, be a big girl and give him a chance to prove how sorry he was?
    “I’ve been there, done that.” The look on Vicki’s face was pained, like it hurt to talk about what she’d gone through. “I’m happy my marriage ended, that I walked away from him and never looked back, because he hurt me over and over again.” She paused. “If that’s how you feel, too, then so be it. All I’m saying is that I want you to be sure it’s the right decision for you.”
    “I can’t just roll over and pretend like nothing happened, Vicki. And I can’t do it for Gabby, either. She’ll still be a happy, loved child even if our marriage does end.” Penny wasn’t angry with her for questioning, for bringing it up, because it was a conversation she’d had in her own head over and over, and she didn’t have a mother of her own to talk it through with.
    “Does that mean you’ll give him a chance, though?” Vicki’s voice was barely more than a whisper.
    Penny half shrund �y half shgged, her shoulders only just rising before falling back into a slump.
    “I don’t know.”
    She honestly didn’t. Most of her thought there was no way in hell she could ever forgive him, but some small niggle, something deep within her, wanted to listen to her mother-in-law.
    Because maybe she needed to hear him out. Needed to at least try to understand why he’d done it.
    Vicki stood, collecting both their glasses from the table as the boys’ voices became louder, closer.
    “Will you at least think about it?”
    She stood, too, hands palms-down on the tabletop.
    “I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises.”
    Vicki gave her a tight smile. “That’s all I’m asking you to do, Pen. I don’t want to lose you from this family, you mean too much to me.”
    Penny sighed.
    She didn’t want to lose them either. But at the same time, she didn’t know whether she had the strength to fight for her marriage, to do what had to be done to resolve their problems.
    Because if she forgave Daniel, did that mean she was saying that what he’d done was okay? That it was acceptable? How could she ever trust him again?
    Was that the kind of example she wanted to set for her daughter? When she grew up, did she want Gabby to know that she’d taken her father back, even though he’d been unfaithful? It wasn’t just about her own feelings; she wanted to be setting the right example for her daughter. She owed it to her to be the best role model she could, to show by example how important it was to have a husband who respected and loved you more than anything in the world.
    But at the same time, she loved Daniel more than heaven and earth combined. Or at least she had. And maybe a part of her still did.
    Or maybe she loved the Daniel she’d once known. The Daniel she’d left behind.
    The Daniel she’d believed would never cheat on her. Penny sighed and wished the earth would swallow her up. She’d come home for her daughter’s birthday, yet here she was trying to make the biggest decision of her